Pumps
The three main types of plumbing pumps in your home are:
If there is a problem with any of these pumps water damage can occur in your home quickly. If the Sewage Ejector Pump fails, however, that can also create a major health hazard for you and your family. So, call Atlanta Plumbing Plus at 770-447-0374 as soon as you suspect a problem with this important piece of
equipment.
Sewage Ejector Pumps
Interestingly, many of our customers don’t even know they have a sewage ejector pump in their homes. They call to report a clogged toilet or they confuse the sewage ejector pump with a Sump Pump.
A Sewage ejector pump (Also called a Lift Station) is installed when a home has a bathroom or kitchen in the basement with drain lines below the level of the home’s main drain line. This means that waste water must be pumped up to the height of the main drain line before it can exit the home and flow to the city sewer or septic tank. Diagnosing the problem on a sewage ejector pump and making the correct repair/replace recommendation is not a pleasant job. Making the actual repair is even less pleasant. This is because the pump usually sits in a pit that fills with effluent when the pump stops working. For this reason, you should always leave work on a sewage ejector pump to a licensed, professional plumber who can do the work safely and cleanly and without subjecting you or your family to potential bio-hazards. So, if your pump stops working, call the professionals at Atlanta Plumbing Plus at 770-447-0374 and let us be the ones to handle this messy job.
Sump Pumps
A Sump Pump pumps rain water out of your basement or crawl space when it seeps in because the ground around your home is not graded away from the house or the foundation is cracked. Installing a sump pump involves installing a catch basin to hold the pump, making sure that the water in your basement or crawl space drains to towards that catch basin and installing the pump along with a drain line to carry the water out of the home and away from it.
If you are very handy around the house, you might feel comfortable installing your own sump pump, or, you can call Atlanta Plumbing Plus at 770-447-0374 to do the job for you. We we will be happy to install a new sump pump or replace your existing sump pump if the motor has burned out.
Re-Circulating Pumps
In many of Atlanta’s homes the water heater is in the basement or garage while the bathrooms are on the second story at the farthest side of the house away from the water heater. Consequently, you may have to run the water in the bathroom for 2 – 5 minutes before it gets hot. This wastes 2.5 gallons of water a minute, wasting both energy and our planet’s precious supply of fresh water. What’s more, as water and sewer rates keep increasing, it can cost you a lot of money on your water bill, too.
You can save both water and money
by having Atlanta Plumbing Plus install a recirculating pump in your home; plus, you can have hot water to the farthest bathroom faucet from the water heater in 10 -15 seconds.
There are several makes and models of recirculating pumps available:
A basic “always on” recirculating pump that uses about the same amount of energy as a 40 watt light bulb.
- A recirculating pump with a timer you set to circulate the water during the busiest times of day for your family. For example, you could set the timer to switch the pump on first thing in the morning just before everyone wakes up and shower. Then you could have it turn on again between 6:00 and 8:00 in the evening when everyone is home again. Then, in order to save on utility bills, the timer would shut the pump off during the times of the day when nobody is home .
- An “on demand” recirculating pump where you press a remote control button any time you want to circulate hot water through your system. This type of pump shuts off when it senses that the water at the faucet farthest away from the heater has reached the appropriate temperature (approximately 10 – 15 seconds after you start the pump, depending on the size of the house.)
Unfortunately, not all plumbers seem to know how to install and maintain recirculating pumps. We are often called to homes to diagnose a “mysterious problem” where hot water is coming out of the cold water faucets. Frequently we find that another plumbing company has installed a recirculating pump incorrectly and crossed the hot and cold water lines during the installation. So, if you need a reliable company to install, repair or replace a recirculating pump in your home, call us Atlanta Plumbing Plus at 770-447-0374 we will do the job right the first time.
